photo by: Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector

Gov. Laura Kelly, who is seeking reelection, said state tax revenue in February exceeded estimates and warranted renewed call for the 2022 Legislature to approve a bill eliminating the state’s 6.5% sales tax on groceries.

TOPEKA — Kansas collected half a billion dollars in taxes during February, which was nearly $19 million above the bullish estimates that were revised three months ago to reflect revenue growth.

The Kansas Department of Revenue said the state collected $502.5 million in taxes last month — 3.9% more than fiscal analysts anticipated. This February’s total was also $46 million, or 10.2%, above what the state collected in February 2021.

“The positive trend in tax receipts continues with all of the major tax types — individual income tax, corporate income tax, retailer’s sales tax and compensating use tax — performing well,” said Mark Burghart, secretary of the state’s revenue department.

The department processed 15,000 more income tax filings and refunded $21 million more in February compared to the same month last year. Overall, the state has issued 281,000 refunds totaling $147 million in the current filing season.

Refunds for electronically filed returns can be expected to be deposited in taxpayers’ bank accounts in four to seven days, Burghart said.

“We are pleased to be able to get individual income tax refunds paid more quickly and into the accounts of taxpayers,” he said. “But for the larger number of refunds issued in February, individual income tax receipts also would have surpassed the February estimate.”

In February, state individual income tax collections in Kansas were $183.4 million. That was $6.6 million or 3.5% below the monthly estimate. Corporate income tax collections totaled $23.4 million, or $12.4 million more than anticipated. The monthly total on corporate income tax was $15.2 million more than in February 2021.

Retail sales tax revenue outperformed predictions by $5.2 million, or 2.8%, for a monthly total of $195.2 million. That was $16 million, or 8.9%, more than what the state collected in retail sales tax revenue in February 2021.

Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat seeking reelection in November, said her administration had taken steps to promote fiscal responsibility and restore the state’s economy. She again called on the Republican-led Legislature to approve a bill that would end the state’s sales tax on groceries.

“I urge the Legislature to work together to send me a clean bill eliminating the state’s tax on food immediately so that we can put this money back into the pockets of Kansas taxpayers,” Kelly said.

— Tim Carpenter reports for Kansas Reflector.